The Fabulous Fan Society (FFS) is an online feather fan and fan veil dance collaboration run by Jazida. Members of the Society are granted access to an online learning portal and an opportunity to perform at large national events. In 2020 the Fabulous Fan Society is collaborating with The Australian Burlesque Festival and Decadence and Debauchery.

The 2020 FFS Project is danced to “Little Drop of Poison” by Michael Wheatley.

There are 4 different versions of the choreography (beginner fan veil, advanced fan veil, beginner feather fan, advanced feather fan) and all four versions come together to create one cohesive group performance. Where possible during performances, Michael Wheatley will join us and sing live.

Through the online learning portal, members have access to a range of instructional videos, choreography notes, costuming/styling resources and are provided online support by Jazida and a collection of Fan Mentor Leaders (FML).

In 2020, your Fan Mentor Leaders (FML) are: Jazida, Rainbow, Miki Minx and Sara Martini. These four dancers are all teachers at Jazida Dance Classes Canberra School, they have extensive national/international performing experience and have been dancing with fans alongside Jazida since 2015!

Membership provides access to all the resources to learn one dance project/choreography (the equivalent of a 10 week dance course at a school). Members who opt in to perform, then come together from across Australia to perform the cohesive choreography together as a national troupe.

The choreography is firmly based around fan manipulation technique, is in a fusion style and takes inspiration from burlesque, bellydance and fire twirling. The choreography is performed clothed and there is no reveal (stripping) as required as part of the performance.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

As a member of the Fabulous Fan Society, you agree to engage positively and behave in a respectable manner towards all teachers and fellow members.

All members are equal. Bullying in any form is NOT tolerated and will result in immediate cancellation of membership.

Social media posts directly related to or involving the Fabulous Fan Society, must be respectful and in line with our ethos and culture of the Society.

Intellectual property

All choreography learned is the intellectual property of Jazida and where students choose to perform this without the troupe/Jazida, permission must be granted from Jazida and credit must be given.

All provided Fabulous Fan Society resources (such as combo notes, movement videos, and choreography notes) are not for further circulation or to be used by students to teach others without permission from Jazida.

Props

Members of the Fabulous Fan Society understand that they must provide their own props and they are responsible for them.

The techniques taught (particularly for the advanced dancers) can be quite vigorous and can put a lot of pressure on fan staves. Therefore, members of the Fabulous Fan Society agree to appropriate measures to best care for their own props. (We recommend using flexible stave and/or treating them before hand to stabalise as needed)

Performance

Members of the Fabulous Fan Society who want to perform MUST attend the face-to-face rehearsal ahead of the performance, unless other arrangements have explicitly been organised and approved by Jazida.

By participating in the performances, you are giving consent for Jazida to use the photographs and/or video footage for promotional purposes.

If Fabulous Fan Society members wish to perform the choreographies at other events (outside of the organised/agreed performances nominated by Jazida), they must get explicit approval from Jazida and credit the Fabulous Fan Society as part of the performance.

Health Disclaimer

Dancing, in all its forms is a sometimes strenuous physical activity. By joining the Fabulous Fan Society, you understand that this kind of exercise carries the risk of injury whether physical of mental. You understand that it is your responsibility to judge your capabilities in such activities and do not exceed our own limits.

Where you have a known health limitation, you will modify your movement as appropriate and/or you will communicate this to your teacher so that alternate options can be provided.

You expressly waive and release any claim that you may have at any time for injury of any kind against the Fabulous Fan Society or the teachers.

Membership

No sharing. Members of the Fabulous Fan Society may not share, give or sell their access or accessed content to any other person or entity outside of the paid members for that year.

If there are concerns that your membership is being used fraudulently and content is being shared without approval, your membership to the Fabulous Fan Society may be cancelled

Indemnity

You agree to not hold the Jazida, the Fabulous Fan Society, the Fan Mentor Leaders, employees, representatives and members responsible for any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, costs or debt and expenses arising from your use or access to the Fabulous Fan Society content.

Fees and Charges

Full membership payment of $220 must be received by Jazida before access can be granted to the learning resources. A non-refundable deposit of $50 can be made to secure your spot if desired.

If a member of the Fabulous Fan Society wishes to access the resources for more than one choreography (e.g. learn a fan veil choreography AND a feather fan choreography in the same year), then they need to submit another enrollment form and pay an additional fee of $100 per additional choreography they'd like to learn.

It is understood that there are no refunds for membership payment unless unforseeable circumstances means that the Fabulous Fan Society must cease at the direction of Jazida or personal circumstances have occured and Jazida has used discretion to agree to waive fees.

FAQs

If you want to learn, but cannot afford it, consider submitting an Expression of Interest for sponsorship and explain why you deserve to be sponsored to join for free. EOIs close 20 April 2020 [now closed]

There are no fixed online classes. All learning resources are pre-recorded and provided to you to learn at your own pace. Jazida and the other Fan Mentor Leaders will go live at times that best suit the group to answer any questions and check on progress. However, there is no fixed time that you have to be online! We want to make it accessible to everyone!

When and where are the 2020 performances?

The 2020 performances are proposed to be as follows:

CANBERRA at Decadence and Debauchery on 22 August 2020 (rehearsal 21 August)

BRISBANE at the Australian Burlesque Festival on 4 October 2020 (rehearsal 3 October)

SYDNEY at the Australian Burlesque Festival on 17 October 2020 (rehearsal 16 October)

Please note, that these dates MAY be impacted by the Coronavirus Pandemic. If this happens, Jazida will remain in contact to confirm rescheduled performance dates.

This gives you access to all the digital learning resources, notes and videos. You will also get access into the Facebook Group where you can connect with other members of the Fabulous Fan Society and also interact directly with Jazida and the other Fan Mentor Leaders (your teachers).

You are expected to provide your own props. Therefore, if you do not already own fan veils or feather fans, we ask you to loan or buy some.

If you choose to be part of the performance, you will need to pay for your own costume (to keep) closer to the date. It is estimated that the costuming fee will be roughly $50AUD each.

If you choose to be part of the performance, you will need to consider costs associated with performing (such as travel and accommodation).

If you desire, you may purchase Fabulous Fan Society merchandise. This is not a requirement.

If you choose to learn more than one choreography and get more learning resources in a year (e.g. learn a fan veil AND a feather fan choreo), then you will need to submit a separate enrolment form for each and pay an additional $100 per extra choreography you learn (i.e. $220 for membership to learn 1 choreo, $320 for membership to learn 2 choreos, $420 for membership to learn 3 choreos, $520 for membership to learn all 4 choreos). If you choose to learn multiple choreographies, you must nominate which one you would like to perform if you join a performance.

If you choose to perform, you will be given a $25AUD token payment as a thank you from Jazida for participating.

How can I access the learning resources?

Learning resources will be available through the website, via the Facebook Group and on Dropbox.

Once your membership payment has gone through, you will be given access to the Group and resources in May 2020.

Facebook will be the main method of communication amoung group members and with the teachers.

Opportunity to perform at the Australian Burlesque Festival and Decadence and Debauchery

SO. MUCH. FUN.

Where can I get fan veils or feather fans from? Do I need a certain type?

You can get them anywhere you like!

Ideally, your fans should open a full 180 degrees each. You will need one Right Hand fan and one Left Hand fan.

Fan Veils should be 1.5m long and made of silk.

Feather fans can be any size, but we recommend 54" fans if possible. Ostrich feathers are recommended, but not required. We recommend staves that are flexible (such as bamboo), however acrylic is also okay.

Who are the Fan Mentor Leaders (FML) aka teachers and how can I communicate with them?

All videos and learning resources have been created by Jazida and it is her choreography you'll be learning. However, there are x4 different Fan Mentor Leaders, who will be you go-to person depending on which choreography you choose to learn.

For 2020, your Fan Mentor Leaders are:

Jazida (leading advanced fan veils)Performer at the Burlesque Hall of Fame (Las Vegas), founder/teacher at Jazida Dance Classes in Canberra, Producer of Miss Burlesque ACT, Headliner for the Perth International Burlesque Festival, Featured Artist at the Australian Burlesque Festival, Winner of "Best Dance" at the Adelaide Fringe Weekly Awardwww.jazidaburlesque.comwww.instagram.com/jazida.burlesque

All 2020 Fan Mentor Leaders have been dancing fans together since 2015. They are all teachers at the Jazida Dance Classes school in Canberra. They have all toured across Australia (Jazida and Rainbow have also toured internationally).

You can communicate with them through the online group. They are available to answer questions and clarify bits of choreography. There will also be fixed times where they will go live together to answer questions and they will also make themselves available for per-scheduled online live chats occasionally if needed.

How do the performances work?

The choreographies are all designed to meld together into one giant choreography with fun staging!

Everyone learns their sections of the choreography independently through the digital community and online resources. Then, we all come together at the pre-scheduled events that we have nominated we want to perform at. We do a face-to-face rehearsal the day before the show to tidy up staging and practice all together and then WE PERFORM LIVE!

Because there are so many of us, we will need to attend the shows in full makeup, hair done and with costumes on (just with a cover up over the top) and given the limited backstage spaces, it is likely that we won't be able to wait backstage and may need to wait in the audience until our call time to go on stage.

Where possible, seating is always given as a priority to paying ticket holders. Therefore, if the show is sold out, members of the Fabulous Fan Society may need to stand while in the audience.

Is this a burlesque class? Is there stripping?

No. There is no stripping for the members of the Fabulous Fan Society and while the teachers are all esteemed burlesque performers, the choreographies play with the idea of "tease" and some of the techniques link with burlesque/showgirl style, this is not a "burlesque class" as such.

The performances will be part of the burlesque shows. At those shows there will be stripping (down to pasties and g-strings) and the events will be 18+. Our singer who will perform with us will end the act by stripping down to pasties and underpants.

However, the Fabulous Fan Society is dedicated to sharing fan dancing technique and no members of the society are required to strip. The proposed costume can be fairly revealing, however no one should be made to feel uncomfortable and anyone who feels nervous about showing too much skin is welcome to wear black leggings/shirts/undergarments underneath their costumes.

Can I try the classes out to decide if I like them first?

No. Unfortunately, because of how easy it would be to download all the resources, we ask that only members who have paid in full get any access.

However, if you have any questions/concerns about if the content will be fitting, please email jazidadance@gmail.com

Some video snippets to demonstrate the styles, levels, and give previews of some combos will be available through Jazida's Instagram at www.instagram.com/jazida.burlesque

Do I need to provide my own fans?

Yes. All members of the Fabulous Fan Society are expected to provide their own props.

If you would like to loan or buy a set, please get in contact with Jazida and nominate this is the case on your enrolment form. If there are enough people wanting to buy props, the Fabulous Fan Society may put in a bulk order to keep costs low.

Can I learn more than one choreography? Or can I switch between choreography groups?

Yes. You may choose to learn more than one choreography. However, you will need to submit separate enrolment forms and pay an additional $100 per extra choreography you learn (i.e. $220 for membership to learn 1 choreo, $320 for membership to learn 2 choreos, $420 for membership to learn 3 choreos, $520 for membership to learn all 4 choreos). If you choose to learn multiple choreographies, you must nominate which one you would like to perform if you join a performance.

Is there Fabulous Fan Society Merch?

Yes!! Fabulous Fan Society Merch will be available to members to purchase if interested! Look in the group for more details